Full report: Melvin Ray discusses his return to football, which he hopes to be at Alabama

(NOTE: This story expounds on Monday's breaking news and appears in today's editions of The Birmingham News, Huntsville Times and Mobile Press-Register)

TUSCALOOSA -- Baseball prospect Melvin Ray made it back home from a winter league stay in Venezuela just in time to catch January's BCS national title game.

Glued to the television with friends around him, there was a familiar thought again flashing through the mind of the former wide receiver: "I could have been there."

Rivals.com photoTide signee Melvin Ray initially chose pro baseball over college football but is now seeking a return to Nick Saban's program.

A 2008 Alabama football signee who instead chose pro baseball, Ray is now ready to return to football and the Crimson Tide.

Ray, 21, is no longer with the Los Angeles Dodgers' organization after spending the past three seasons as an outfielder in the minor leagues. He returned home to Tallahassee, Fla., in recent days and is beginning the process of joining Alabama's incoming 2011 class and possibly enrolling in time for practice next spring.

"I'm set. My heart is still with (Alabama) because I signed with them," Ray said. "I wouldn't have made that commitment for no reason. I want to play. I want to play with Alabama no matter what. I'm in the process of getting in contact with (defensive coordinator) Kirby (Smart) and (head coach Nick) Saban right now. I've got to figure out what's next. Everything has happened so fast over the last couple of days."

The Dodgers drafted Ray, now listed as 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, in the 33rd round of the 2008 Major League draft. Ray spent the past three seasons batting .184 with two home runs and nine stolen bases in 64 games. Though he was never promoted beyond Los Angeles' rookie league team, Ray was hitting .269 through 20 games this season in the Arizona League.

As it turns out, Ray's final baseball game was Wednesday. The Dodgers, sensing Ray's next career move, released him in what amounted to a mutual decision.

"My heart wasn't in it anymore," Ray said. "I had really been thinking about this all season, really. They already knew that I'd kind of decided that I wanted to go back, get my education and take another run on the football field."

Ray said he will not reopen his college football recruitment beyond Alabama. His commitment has yet to be formally accepted by Alabama coaches, but Saban indicated in 2008 that the door would be open for Ray to return to football.

Ray was No. 68 on the Press-Register's Super Southeast 120 for 2008 and rated as a four-star recruit at the time by Rivals.com.

"I honestly feel like I'm way more dominant on the football field than anything," Ray said. "At this point in time in my life, I've got to figure out really what I want to make a long-term career in."

Ray's father, Melvin Sr., said his son needs to complete course work to be able to enroll at UA, meaning he will try to enroll in junior college this fall either at Shelton State in Tuscaloosa or Tallahassee Community College. After one semester, the family's hopes are Ray could enroll at UA after Christmas break.

"He's a good kid," Ray Sr. said. "He's done what he needed to do. But this is what he wants to do."

Ray would have his full four years of eligibility for college football since he never enrolled at UA or played for the Crimson Tide. According to Ray's father, the Dodgers agreed to pay for his son's college, per terms of his original deal, though it's unclear if NCAA rules would allow that to happen or if Ray would count against Alabama's 85-man scholarship limit.

"If we have to pay for it," Ray Sr. said, "he's going to Alabama. Once he was committed, nothing has changed there."

Ray Jr. said he paid close attention to the Crimson Tide during the past two football seasons. While excited to see the success, he said he wasn't surprised after all the hype that Alabama's 2008 signing class received. After the Crimson Tide topped Texas to win the BCS title game in January, he received calls from baseball teammates asking how it felt to have his team win the whole thing.

And while baseball is now complete for him, he says he'll miss it and that he wouldn't trade the experiences he's had in the past few years.

"It's something that I'll never forget and actually something that will probably help me for the rest of my life down the line, just knowing how to interact with different people," Ray Jr. said. "I'm not regretting anything. It was fun. I enjoyed every bit of it. But I'm excited about going down a new path. I wouldn't make the choice to try something different if I wasn't completely behind it. I'm excited to get back working out, get back into school and get back rolling again."